Subhash Ghai (born January 24, 1945 in Nagpur, India) is an Indian director. His most notable films include Karz (1980),Hero (1983), Meri Jung (1985),Karma (1986), Saudagar (1991), Khalnayak (1993), Pardes (1997) and Taal (1999). He is known as the "showman" of bollywood, for making epic films that portray grandeur and a very rich theme.
Subhash graduated in commerce from Rohtak, Haryana and moved to Pune, Maharashtra to learn cinema at the Film and Television Institute of India. After attaining a diploma, he started working in the Indian film industry in 1970.
His directorial break was the film Kalicharan (1976) which he obtained through a recommendation by Shatrughan Sinha, which was one of the biggest hits of its time. As of 2005, he has written and directed 15 movies out of which 13 were highly successful. In 1982, he formed a company - Mukta Arts Private Limited which, in 2000, became a public company. Subhash Ghai is its chairman and managing director.
His most notable films in the 1980s were Karz (1980), Vidhaata (1982), Hero (1983), Karma (1986) and Ram Lakhan (1989). He went onto win a Filmfare Best Director Award for Saudagar (1991) which pitted legendary actors Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar against each other. His 1993 release Khalnayak which was known for its controversies at the time for its use of the popular song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai' and its star Sanjay Dutt's breakthrough performance.
Two of his films in the late 1990s, Pardes (1997) (Abroad) and Taal (1999) (The Beat) were released internationally and featured in the Top 20 movies in the U.S. Box office charts for several weeks. His following films, Yaadein (2001) and Kisna (2005) were box office and critical failures
He then took a break from directing and turned producer having success with producing box office hits such as Aitraaz (2004), 36 China Town (2006) and Apna Sapna Money Money (2006).
In 2006 he set up his own state of the art film institute Whistling Woods International in Mumbai. The institute trains students in various aspects of film making - production, direction, cinematography, acting, animation etc.
After a three year hiatus from directing he returned recently in 2008 for his latest directorial film Black & White which released on March 7, 2008,
Ghai is known as a showman and is quite well known for his womanizing ways. He has had accusations of sexual harassment thrown at him by many prominent actresses such as Manisha Koirala, Mahima Chaudhary, and Sarika. He is married to Rehana and has two daughters.
